Energy bills in most homes can be considerably high these days, as the need to heat the home and water is necessary in cold weather. Day by day it seems that energy prices are increasing, thereby increasing the expenditure on energy. The best way to combat this price increase is to opt for eco-friendly or alternative energy that is already available in nature in abundance and can be converted into heat energy for proper utilization. Using alternative energy is also a great way you can reduce the CO2 footprint of your house.
Eco-friendly Options for Heating Homes
Most of the homes in America have some type of central heating. It can be warm air system, radiators, night storage heaters or boilers. However, all these options consume a lot of energy. Here are few alternative energy options that are produced using natural resources that will help in lowering your electricity consumption. Some of the most efficient and commonly popular eco-friendly forms of energies are:
Biomass
Biomass is the word used for the wood material used for heating. You can prepare heat energy through this source by using a single stove similar to a wood burner that can heat one room at a time. Alternatively, you can get a big biomass boiler, connect it with the hot water tank and radiators and use it for centralized heating. This type of heating is much better than using fossil fuels. Biomass is considered a carbon neutral source of fuel. The main reason behind this is that the chips or the pellets that are used for burning your system are produced very quickly through short rotation coppice and quick growing. Also, the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere during the burning process is almost equal to that absorbed by the plants during their growing period. Hence, its balance is maintained.
Heat pumps
Heat pumps are another form of eco-friendly heating systems. Depending upon the source they use for heating, they are divided into two types: ground and air. Ground source pumps are comparatively more efficient of the two heating technologies with a CoP (performance coefficient) of 3:1. This means that it uses one unit of electricity to pump out three heat energy units. However, as compared to an air source system, ground source heat pumps are quite expensive and require specific installation. The CoP of air source pumps is 2:1 and just like ground source system, these heat pumps can also be connected to wet central heating or warm heating system. They are comparatively easy to install.
Solar heating
Many homes receive unobstructed sunlight even during the cold season. Such homes can opt for solar heating systems for heating their homes. This is one of the cheapest forms of alternative energy and you either can buy a manufactured system or you can build it at home. This system makes use of solar energy for heating liquid or air. This heated element is then transferred through a storage system inside the rooms. Sometimes it is also transferred directly into the interior space.
It is a great idea to look further into alternative energy sources for heating your home. Depending upon the availability of natural resources and suitable climatic conditions in your region, you can choose from any of the available alternative energy option and reduce your electric bills.
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